TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU! Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.
The Specialists
WARZECHA: Credit where credit's due - the last hour of Impact was Super Oct 16, 2009 - 2:44:54 PM
TNA did a lot right in the last hour of their "Super Impact" show this week. This was the last Impact before the biggest TNA show of the year, Bound for Glory, and the company went all out on this show with a PPV caliber line up.
If you showed up for the bonus extra hour of Impact you saw one of the best matches of the year on free TV, TNA Champ A.J. Styles vs. Kurt Angle. This great match ended in a 20 minute time limit draw. The return of the time limit draw to big time TV wrestling is a welcome surprise, and TNA chose the right time to re-institute this often useful finish. Both men gave us enough of an effort that we don't feel ripped off and it builds anticipation for a post BFG, no time limit rematch.
The production team deserves special recognition for the brilliantly produced BFG preview sections. These engaging pieces were the equal of any UFC or HBO countdown show prior to a big fight. The wrestlers involved came across as realistic and passionate. The calm, sincere acting by all involved in these segments were as effective as anything TNA's ever done in terms of getting over the characters involved, the will to win, and the importance of the big show. The viewer was allowed to see these characters as "real people," and an emotional connection between wrestler and viewer is the result.
In this stellar last hour of Impact, TNA was a company that showcased two of the best wrestlers in the promotion battling one-on-one where winning meant everything. TNA was a company rooted in grounded, realistic, MMA style characters that the fans can connect to. In the last stellar hour of Impact, TNA showed us what the future of the business could be.
Marc Warzecha usually does satire for PWTorch including a monthly online-exclusive in the PWTorch Newsletter. Email Marc Warzecha at TorchWarz@yahoo.com.
[A.J. Styles photo by Wade Keller (c) PWTorch]
Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
INCREDIBLE BENEFITS! Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...
Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?
AND NEW FOR 2009! Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?
